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Author Topic: **Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)  (Read 86508 times)

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Offline wbrejniaTopic starter

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Hi, I need some help with a Classic Amiga 2000, which has a HARD DISK in it but I have no idea what I used it for decades ago.
 
 If anyone has a working A2000 maybe you can point me in the right direction.
 
 I need to understand if this HARD disk would boot Workbench, or was is strictly for DOS use.
 
 There is a bridgeboard inside the A2000, and a SCSI controller.
 
 If I could access that Hard Drive, it might satisfy my curiosity for the past, and possible find some interesting stuff on it.
 
 I might even consider selling it.
 
 More details below....
« Last Edit: January 19, 2017, 06:16:54 AM by wbrejnia »
 

Offline wbrejniaTopic starter

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Re: **Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2017, 06:18:20 AM »
HERE IS THE A2000 (Not bad shape for it's age).
 
 

Offline wbrejniaTopic starter

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Re: **Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2017, 06:20:52 AM »
It Boots from Floppy Workbench fine.  
 
 I upgraded the kickstart chip from the Original KS1.2
 
 
 
 HERE IS SYSINFO
 
 

Offline wbrejniaTopic starter

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Re: **Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)
« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2017, 06:25:28 AM »
INSIDE (Is 386 Bridgeboard, SCSCI HDD Controller, and the Hard Disk)
 
 
 I figured out to get a Workbench Disk working to boot MS DOS via 5.25 Floppy.
 
 
 I have Amiga Explorer working via a Home PC, so I can get more drivers etc.
 
 

Offline wbrejniaTopic starter

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Re: **Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)
« Reply #4 on: January 19, 2017, 06:26:55 AM »
Can anyone help me?
 
 How can I see what's on this Hard Drive?
 
 Many thanks for anything.
 
 Wally
 

Offline wbrejniaTopic starter

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Re: **Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)
« Reply #5 on: January 19, 2017, 06:39:49 AM »
If my memory serves me correct from last attempt...
 
 I think I need a DOS Driver for that SCSI Card, which I couldn't find.
 
 So what are my other options?
 

Offline wbrejniaTopic starter

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Re: **Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)
« Reply #6 on: January 19, 2017, 07:30:39 AM »
Hmmm, digging thru notes.
 
 It's not a SCSI HDD, it may be IDE.
 
 I will open the A2000 and pull out the HDD Controller to get some information on it.
 

Offline Oldsmobile_Mike

Re: **Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)
« Reply #7 on: January 19, 2017, 08:07:53 AM »
Looks like the hard drive is connected to some kind of old connector on the PC (Bridgeboard) side.  Hard to tell from the picture but I think this predates IDE - may be an MFM hard drive, or some other prehistoric format?

At this point unless there's something you really want to recover off that drive, I'd consider it toast.  If you want to use the Amiga as an Amiga get yourself some kind of modern solid state solution (such as a CF or SD adapter), or at least a SCSI controller and hard drive.  It really depends on what you want to do with the system.  That bridgeboard and your current expansion cards are pretty much only good for old DOS-based software.  Maybe Windows 3.1 if you're really up for a challenge. ;)

First thing's first though, take out that drive sled and remove the barrel battery before you do anything else.  Search the forums for info about leaking batteries, but suffice to say it's not good.  System seems to be in decent shape otherwise, be a shame to let it get ruined by a leaking battery.
Amiga 500: 2MB Chip|16MB Fast|30MHz 68030+68882|3.9|Indivision ECS|GVP A500HD+|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|Cocolino|SCSI DVD-RAM
Amiga 2000: 2MB Chip|136MB Fast|50MHz 68060|3.9|Indivision ECS + GVP Spectrum|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|AD516|X-Surf 100|RapidRoad|Cocolino|SCSI CD-RW
 Amiga videos and other misc. stuff at https://www.youtube.com/CompTechMike/videos
 

Offline Matt_H

Re: **Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)
« Reply #8 on: January 19, 2017, 01:35:10 PM »
It looks like the only boards plugged into the system are the Bridgeboard (this seems to be the one you have, not a 386) and 2 ISA cards to support the Bridgeboard. The hard drive is connected to one of the ISA cards, suggesting it would have been used by the PC "side" of the system.

Did you upgrade the Kickstart chip just recently or long ago? Kickstart 1.2, which you said the machine originally had, can't autoboot from hard drives. You would have had to boot from a floppy disk containing the driver for a hard disk controller.

So, 3 theories:
1. This Amiga was primarily used as a PC. Whatever boot floppy it had years ago was used to launch the Bridgeboard software and the bulk of the machine's productive work was done using software on the PC side's hard drive, or via floppy disks on the Amiga side.
2. The hard disk controller board for the Amiga side (with hard drive) was removed some time ago. This seems unlikely given that all the board slot covers are in place. Usually when someone pulls a board out of a machine before putting it into storage they don't replace the slot cover. :)
3. The hard disk contains BOTH Amiga and PC systems. If I'm remembering correctly, it was possible with the Bridgeboard software to put Amiga partitions on hard drives connected to the PC side. (Can someone confirm/refute this?) They wouldn't have been bootable, but since the machine had Kickstart 1.2 anyway, that wouldn't have mattered. The system's boot floppy would have contained the the appropriate configuration files and mountlists to make this work.
 

Offline wbrejniaTopic starter

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Re: **Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)
« Reply #9 on: January 19, 2017, 04:24:31 PM »
Thanks for all the info.
 
 I will remove that Battery right away.  It hasn't leaked but it may.
 
 Then I want to tackle the Hard Drive access.
 
 I'm the original owner and nothing has been removed, so the setup is as was (when working).  I have a ton of floppies so one of them might hold the setup I need to boot up and see the hard drive.
 
 Other option is I have a old fully loaded 286 PC, that has a controller with a same ribbon cable that the HDD has in the amiga.  Maybe I can hook it up to the PC and see the contents.   If it has a DOS partition I may be able to see what's there.  If it has a AMIGA partition, then I'll won't be in luck on the 286.
 
 I'll post some more details on the Hard Drive connector, the Amiga Hard Drive controller board that HDD is hooked up to.  
 
 Stay tuned.   Should get things setup very soon.
 

Offline Pat the Cat

Re: **Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)
« Reply #10 on: January 19, 2017, 04:49:05 PM »
Good news. Bridgeboards are the most supported Commodore products, probably.

You are about to experience having two separate computer systems under the same hardware simultaneously, and both independently, and in a new mode, called harmony. This will be a new experience for you, although there are many variations of this and other multiple approach.

You need to run Janus software on the Amiga with all cards plugged in to the Amiga side and operating OK.

Janus does the bridgeboard bit. The hard drive almost certainly contains an image of an ancient PC that might be resurrected to full capability, which on a 386 running DOS, ain't a lot.

I hope you can cope with that barebones infomration and search Aminet for appropriate information and the local scrapyards for suiitable extra hardware to add.

At some point you will stop in this endeavour, that's cool. Janus could look forwards and backwards in time, mythology wise.

Quote
DOS Driver for that SCSI Card
Er, no. You got to have a compatible PC SCSI card that it was formatted with, sometimes. You can try with the SCSI controller you have, but PCs didn't have an equivalent to RDB at the time that was consistent across all systems. Depends when the drive was written, what with. Usually it changed with a manufacturer at least.

Even having the correct driver for what you have doesn't work sometimes, but strangely, having the right DOS driver for the partition, if the controller cards have same controller chips, can do the job. Filesystem issue with what the drive was written with. PCs had this problem. If the SCSI was done on the Amiga side, all will be well. If it was done PC side, that can be a huge issue.

Drive ST-506 possibly. Neither SCSI nor IDE.
« Last Edit: January 19, 2017, 05:11:01 PM by Pat the Cat »
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Offline wbrejniaTopic starter

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Re: **Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)
« Reply #11 on: January 19, 2017, 04:55:30 PM »
I did get Janus working before.
 Will boot up tonight and see what happens.
 
 The challenge I faced last time was after Janus boots and PC window shows up in Amiga.  How do I get access to that Hard Drive which is hooked up to a Hard drive Controller via IDE cable.
 
 I assume somewhere or somehow a driver loads for that hard drive controller and then I'll see that PC in the amiga boot up from the hard drive.
 
 It's a chicken before the egg thing.  HOW DO I GET that hard drive VISIBLE from the Bridgeboard PC boot?
 

Offline wbrejniaTopic starter

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Re: **Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)
« Reply #12 on: January 19, 2017, 04:58:56 PM »
Here is a picture of the Bridgeboard that I pulled out last time.



I'll dig up the photo of the Hard Drive controller.
 

Offline Oldsmobile_Mike

Re: **Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)
« Reply #13 on: January 19, 2017, 04:58:58 PM »
This is probably obvious, but after you boot into the DOS environment, did you try just cd'ing to c:?
Amiga 500: 2MB Chip|16MB Fast|30MHz 68030+68882|3.9|Indivision ECS|GVP A500HD+|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|Cocolino|SCSI DVD-RAM
Amiga 2000: 2MB Chip|136MB Fast|50MHz 68060|3.9|Indivision ECS + GVP Spectrum|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|AD516|X-Surf 100|RapidRoad|Cocolino|SCSI CD-RW
 Amiga videos and other misc. stuff at https://www.youtube.com/CompTechMike/videos
 

Offline wbrejniaTopic starter

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Re: **Need Setup HELP** with Classic Amiga 2000 HARD DISK (Bridgeboard)
« Reply #14 on: January 19, 2017, 05:11:49 PM »
The hard drive controller is a Western Digital WD1002A-27X
 
 Digging for a Driver for DOS.